That'll be Wattle

One of the earliest trees to flower in the spring in France is the wattle. It's a real blast of sunshine yellow in the grey days of February and March, when most of the native European trees don't have leaves. The early blossom - usually some sort of Prunus - may be out, but not much else. The plant seen in France is either Silver Wattle Acacia dealbata or Cootamundra Wattle Acacia baileyana (or a hybrid of the two, Acacia Mirandole), both natives of Australia which are widely planted in gardens, to the extent that both are considered noxious weeds in some parts of Europe. It is a seasonal favourite with florists, who sell tonnes of the stuff by its international floristry name of mimosa.

This could be Acacia dealbata, although it might also be Acacia baileyana. Shepherd's Lookout, November 2024.

Wattle is a really ancient plant, at least 23 million years old and which pre-dates Australia's separation from Antarctica. Each of their fluffy spherical pollen rich flowers are actually a group of dozens of tiny individual flowers and they have hard seeds which can survive and germinate after bushfires. Some of the species are frost tolerant to -5 Celsius or lower, why is why they also survive in France. Surprisingly, the genus Acacia has been discovered to belong to the pea family Fabaceae. Nevertheless they are not all that closely related to the plant called Acacia in France, which is also in Fabaceae, and should more properly be called Robinia pseudoacacia.

Silver Wattle was first introduced to France in 1864 and planted in a garden in Cannes la Bocca. Soon after, demand from the wealthy winter residents of Cannes meant that hundreds of plants were imported and planted in the area. In 1880 Antibes and Cannes planted Silver Wattle as boulevard trees. By 1930 there was extensive cultivation of Silver Wattle in the Alpes-Maritime, at first for the perfume trade, but from the Second World War most growers concentrated on the floristry trade. Since the 1980s the area of cultivation has halved from its peak of 800 hectares. There is currently much talk about declaring Acacia dealbata and Acacia baileyana as invasive species in France.

Wattle Day in Australia is 1 September, the first day of the Australian spring. Golden Wattle Acacia pycnantha is Australia's floral emblem.